The First Task, Through Her Eyes
by navnit
Summary: What would it be like if we saw the first task through our favourite bookworms eyes. (Note: Does not exactly follow cannon, ye have been warned.) HHr


_A/N: I was listening to Stephen Fry's reading of the Goblet of Fire recently and the idea came to me to see what it felt like to be sitting in the stands as Harry completed the First Task. Now naturally my selection for the character whose point of view I would use would be Hermione as she is most aware of everything going on with Harry. Be aware that I am a H/Hr fan and completely anti-Ron, in fact I would have been happy if the Horntail had gulped up and eaten Ron before being subdued by the Dragon Keepers, but alas we can't have everything I suppose. However keeping that in mind don't be surprised if Hermione's caring and concern for Harry go a little beyond close friendship 'cause that's how I am writing it. This will be a one shot and maybe I'll put in more of her points of view if the reception for this one is good._

**The First Task, Through Her Eyes**

Hermione Granger got out of bed on the day of the first task as the first rays of the sun hit her window, she _got_ up instead of _waking_ up because she hadn't actually gone to sleep last night; she was too worried about what Harry Potter, her best friend, was going to be facing soon.

A _dragon_ she thought to herself for the umpteenth time since she had found out what his first task was going to be, she shook her head as she straightened her bed sheets and pillows mechanically; she chose to tidy up after herself since she had found out that the house-elfs did it if she didn't, but house-elfs were far from Hermione's mind today.

Ever since she had watched Harry's name come out of the goblet she had been regretting the one thing she never regretted before in her life; the amount of knowledge she had inside her mind. She constantly saw images in her head of the various ways that Harry could die helped along by the gruesome descriptions of the ways that previous champions had been killed in the Triwizard Tournament she had read about in Hogwarts a History.

Every time she closed her eyes these days she saw Harry being decapitated, impaled, crushed or eviscerated by various creatures, spells and deadly traps and ever since she had found out about the dragons she kept seeing him charred and bloody on the ground _now_ with the burning embers of his Firebolt at his side.

So Hermione had read and reread A History of Magic; a therapeutic task that usually helped to calm her nerves although she realized, as she walked into the bathroom to get changed, that her legs were just as wobbly as they had been last night when she had been getting ready for bed so even reading her favorite book didn't seemed to have helped.

Hermione scrunched up her nose as she glanced at herself in the mirror; she looked dreadful, which was not only because of her usual wild hair but also because of the dark circles under her bloodshot eyes, her lips were dry and _of course_ her hair was all over the place.

She mindlessly summoned her makeup bag from her trunk, unconsciously smiling as she remembered Harry's joy at being able to accomplish the same charm last night, he had been hopeful and excited as her went to bed, which was quite a contrast from the resigned doom and gloom expression on his face these last few weeks, she wished _she_ could have adopted the same countenance but it was not to be.  
>Hermione fished out her makeup kit and started applying it quickly on her scrubbed face, hiding the evidence of her insomnia.<p>

She usually preferred muggle makeup to the magical alternative as they seemed to be more effective than most glamour charms and hid dark circles better, beside she didn't want magical signatures all over her face. Once done with her makeup she turned to her hair and sighed starting to brush it down, as she got her hair under control she couldn't help but check out her new smile once more, she felt a little guilty about it but not enough to grow it back, it was one of the few things she was grateful for this year although _Harry_ hadn't noticed it yet, she supposed that he didn't really pay that much attention to her looks.

Done with her hair she looked at her red eyes, there was nothing to it, it was a dead giveaway so she got dressed and trekked her way out of the common room and down to the hospital wing not encountering anyone en route, she would have to get a Pepper Up potion from Madam Pomfrey to clear up her eyes and to get her energy up for the day, she didn't do this often but last year she had constantly had to use the potion because she had been so overloaded with her work schedule, it was _addictive_ and not recommended for more than twice a week so she tried to use as little as she could. But today there was nothing for it, if she didn't take it Harry would know that she was not sleeping and he didn't need to worry about _her_ on top of all the other thing he had to do.

Madam Pomfrey didn't ask questions as she served her up the potion bestowing upon her a caring buss on her smoking forehead and seeing her out. She had developed a strong bond with the school nurse who was amazingly understanding and sympathetic to her plights and had immensely helped in relieving her stress levels during her third year.

With a new bounce in her step Hermione made her way back up to the common room only to decide that she didn't want to be around most of the Gryfindors right now, Harry would not be up for at least another two hours and she didn't really want to bump into Ron whose behavior she was getting fed up of.

So Hermione veered off down familiar set of steps to a usual haunt of hers, she knocked on the varnished oak door and waited patiently, two minutes later Professor McGonagall opened the door. When she saw who it was she quickly invited her in and started making tea. This was a ritual that McGonagall had insisted they practice in light of her use of the Time Turner last year, she had said that it could be very confusing so she was to make sure that every week she would turn back time and come visit her for a cup of tea and report her experience with the device, even after handing in the device they still took the time to chat, although less frequently than before. Sometimes all they did was sit across from each other and sip their tea in silence both lost in their thoughts which is what happened today; for almost an hour all that could be heard was the light chink of china as they sipped the hot tea, both lost in thoughts contemplating the fate of the same boy who McGonagall had come to care for, though she didn't usually show it, almost as much as Hermione albeit in a different way.

When Hermione got up to leave, knowing Harry was about to wake up, McGonagall followed her to the door laying a hand o her shoulder.

"He'll be alright Hermione," she said shakily.

Hermione nodded stiffly, "Thank you Professor." Thanking her more for her effort than any real comfort that she had gotten from her words Hermione turned and left the Professors quarters making her way slowly up to the dormitories.

She met Harry in the common room and went to the Great Hall for breakfast, where Harry ate very little, and then went on too their first lessons. For once Hermione did not concentrate on what Professor Binns was saying and let her head fall down closing her eyes and allowing Binns dull voice to lull her to sleep. Not twenty minutes later though she jerked upright as her nightmare made her wake up; in it she had seen Harry fail at summoning the broomstick and watched helplessly as a jet of fire engulfed her best friend while Ron beside her jumped up and down cheering on the Horntail, it had been most vivid. She looked around hoping no one had seen her but most of the class were either still sleeping like Ron two rows behind her or like Harry was looking out if the window. She could see worry, fear and panic in his eyes.

Hermione didn't think about what she was doing, she just reached out and laid her hand on his on top of the desk. Harry startled but didn't pull away, his wide green eyes looking uncertainly into hers, she squeezed his hand as he turned his palm up clasping her smaller one and squeezing back. Hermione wished she could give him a hug but settled for this, she watched as the panic receded from his eyes and she herself felt calmer after the dream, the contact seemed to be helping both of them cope somewhat but a sharp grunt from Ron made them both hesitate. Harry gently squeezed her hand once again glancing at Ron and then letting go causing Hermione's hand to drop limply by her side.

She cast an anger filled look at Ron, he seemed to be intruding even when he was asleep and he _still_ wasn't talking to Harry, she was getting tired of his immature behavior and she didn't think she was going to be taking any more of it.

When at lunch time Professor McGonagall came to take Harry to the enclosure Hermione knew that she would not have any other opportunity so she followed them to the entrance hall reaching out and clasping Harry's hand stopping him in his tracks.

"Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked surprised while Harry looked at her curiously.

"I'm sorry professor," said Hermione not letting go of Harrys hand. "But I forgot to wish Harry luck."

McGonagall looked taken aback by her statement for a moment but then nodded. "Potter I'll wait for you outside, Miss Granger make it quick." McGonagall left them alone and Hermione lunged clasping Harry in a bear hug and hiding her face in his neck.

Harry for his part was hugging her tighter than he had ever done before, soon she pulled back and gave him a kiss on the cheek saying. "Good luck Harry."

"Thanks Hermione," said Harry breathlessly. They looked into each others eyes for a moment longer waiting for what neither knew but then-

"Potter!" called McGonagall and Hermione released him stepping back and reaching up to sweep back his hair.

"You're going to be fine Harry," she said with a confidence she didn't really feel.

Harry nodded. "I'll see you after the task." And he walked slowly out of the hall, Hermione smiled as she saw him touch his check where she had kissed him and walked to the door watching him walk down to the enclosure with McGonagall at his side.

"Look at him," said Ron from behind her startling her out of her reverie. "He's probably enjoying the hell out of all the atten-"

"Just shut up Ron," Hermione snapped finally having had enough. "I don't have time for any of your crap anymore, it's obvious that you're too stuck up your own ass to see that Harry doesn't enjoy any of the attention he gets, I'm tired of playing referee between you two so you can either grow up or find someone else to complain to."

Ron stood flabbergasted as Hermione swung around and swept past him up the steps to go get ready to cheer for her best and now apparently _only_ friend.

It had felt good raging at Ron for abandoning Harry when the whole school had turned against him, when he had needed his _friends_ the most; it had made Hermione question if she could ever really trust him anymore even _if_ he apologized and Harry being _Harry_ took him back.

There was a downside though to speaking her mind with Ron; now she had to content with sitting with Lavender and Parvati who, being the gossip queens that they were were talking non stop about the guy's competing and a lot of what they were saying made her blush to the root tips of her hair, especially when they had gotten to Harry as it seemed that it was not only her who had notice how much he had filled out over the summer and how good his longer hair looked, she eventually tried to drain out their conversation and focus on the enclosure but thankfully for her, although not so much for Cedric, the task was brought underway with Ludo Bagmans voice echoing through the stands successfully shutting up gossip queens number one and two.

She watched horrified as the first Dragon was brought in, it was obviously stunned and was being levitated by at least forty wizards in red robes. It was an ethereal blue almost silvery but not quite, Hermione quite thought that she might have been able to appreciate it's beauty if only it wasn't about to try and kill one of her school mates. It was a Swedish Short Snout which she was able to identify because of the numerous books that she and Harry had been studying in preparation for this task.

She _did_ feel a stab of sympathy for the Dragon as it was awakened by the Keepers. It got unsteadily to its feet and tugged at its restraints but then Cedric walked out and seeing him obviously shook up made her pity at the dragon evaporate; Cedric a teenage wizard had no chance of killing the Short Snout but the dragon certainly did have the capability to kill Cedric, her sympathies would be with the humans in this instance.

She silently thanked Harry for warning Cedric of the upcoming task and leveling the playing field, he could have easily caused Cedric to make a fool of himself as he came unprepared for the First Task but that's just not who Harry was Hermione thought pridefully.

Cedric expertly managed to transfigure a boulder in his way into a dog and tried to make the dragon good after it. The Short Snout _did_ take the bait and allowed Cedric to run up to the nest and steal the egg but half way to her advance towards the dog the dragon changed its mind and turned to face Cedric who was now clutching the golden egg his task completed but with no way to escape.

The dragon opened its horned mouth and Hermione watched in horror as bright blue flames shot out of its mouth and came towards Cedric. He crouched down low trying to shield himself but the flames hit him straight on his head and half his upper body caught on fire and he screamed in agony as the keepers rushed in to subdue the dragon two of them immediately putting out the flames on Cedric body. Cedric seemed to have gone into shock and was being stunned and loaded into a stretcher which was carried into a medics tent by the enclosure.

Hermione didn't realize she was crying until the tear drops landed on her clasped hands and she raised her shaking hand to wipe them away from her face . She watched numbly as the judges award Cedric his points in front of a hushed crowd who had only now realized that being a champion wasn't all chocolates and roses.

Hermione knew judging by her reaction to what happened with Cedric that if Harry got seriously hurt then she might not be able to survive it.

Soon though Fleur's turn came to face a bright green dragon which was four legged with wings sprouting from its back, the Common Welsh Green. Hermione knew this was the least dangerous of the dragons that the champions would be facing, if there was such a thing as a less dangerous dragon, but it _was_ a nesting mother protecting her clutch so the danger would be very real for the beautiful Beauxbatons champion.

Fleur seemed to be composed enough and as soon as she entered the enclosure she had started to flit this way and that in some sort of dance and Hermione soon realized it was very similar to the way that the Veela had danced at the Qudditch World Cup only instead of enthralling the audience it was apparently putting the dragon to sleep. The trick did seem to work well enough and the dragon slowly fell with a loud crash to the ground clearing Fleur's path but as she reached her goal a jet of fire snorted out of the beasts nostril as it snored and it lit Fleur's skirt on fire, she quickly put the flame put with her wand and grabbed the egg dodging a second snort of flames and escaping the enclosure victorious if a little shook up.

Viktor Krums turn took lesser time than Fleur's did, as soon as he entered the enclosure he shot at the Chinese Fireball a spell straight in its eyes and it immediately started roaring in agony at what was obviously a very painful irritating in its eyes. Now of course since it couldn't see Krum it couldn't attack it but it did stagger about dangerously as Krum edged closer to try and slip the egg past it, however it did unfortunately crush a lot of its own eggs while it was staggering all over the place. The judges took points off for that since he wasn't supposed to damage those eggs despite escaping unscathed, Kakaroff though in a blatant shown of favoritism awarded Krum full marks.

Hermione was now completely pale, her face was fixed in a horrified mask as they brought out the last and by far the most ferocious dragon that she had ever seen; the Hungarian Horntail. She silently raved at the fates or whatever controlled their destinies asking why did Harry have to always get the short end of the stick, she wished she knew the answer to that question as Harry walked slowly into the enclosure, it was clear to her that his nerves had now multiplied tenfold and he seemed to freeze for a moment as he cast his eyes over the giant black ferocious fire-breathing demon in front of him.  
>"Please Harry, please, please Harry," Hermione had no idea what she was pleading for Harry to do whether it was to summon his broom or run as far away from the dragon as possible but she kept repeating those words until finally Harry raised his wand and while she didn't hear what he said it was clear as she watched his lips form the words 'Accio Firebolt'.<p>

And then Hermione's pleading changed. "Please let it work, oh please oh please let it work," she asked desperately for someone to answer her prayer as she clutched at her face with her fingers. Her nails were digging into her skin but she didn't feel it, all her concentration was on Harry, she had no idea that beside her Parvati had noticed her anxiety and had gently taken her hands down from her face and settled them in her own lap, she just kept begging; "Oh please oh please let it work..."

And then she heard it, the tiny whoosh as the broomstick sailed past them and stood quivering at mounting height besides it's owner, Hermione had never been so grateful to Sirius for gifting Harry with the Firebolt because it had possibly just saved Harry's life.

She watched with mounting elation as Harry mounted the broomstick and kicked off watching as the glee she associated with Harry and flying appeared on his face and pullin her hands out of Parvati's lap and Hermione sprang up in her seat cheering with the rest as Ludo Bagman crowed in amazement as Harry did the thing that made him the happiest which was flying rings around an opposing team, or in this case the Horntail. She looked around for a moment and saw Viktor Krum watching transfixed as Harry flew up and around the dragons head dodging as it spurted fire up at him, she could tell he was impressed. But she only observed the stands for a moment soon her focus was back on Harry and she cheered him on hoping he could hear her even though she knew that he couldn't.

She did gasp loudly though when Harry miscalculated while dodging the fire and couldn't quite avoid the beasts long tail as it whipped up and scraped his shoulder but Hermione recognized it as just a flesh wound and watched in amazement as Harry did his best flying ever coaxing the dragon to expose it's precious clutch of eggs and soon enough, sooner than any of the others in fact, Harry dove in as the Horntail rose and he was grabbing the golden egg from the nest and soaring up into the stands and finally landing on the other end of the enclosure.

Hermione was up immediately out of the stands and running towards the medic tent when she bumped into Ron.

"Hermione I'm sorry-"

But Hermione interrupted her. "Save it Ron," she said not slowing down. "it's not me you should be apologizing too." And she sped off towards the tent Ron hot on her heels.

She burst into the tent just as Harry was about to come out of it. "Harry," she squeaked, she had not realized how thin her voice had gotten from all the cheering and running. "You were brilliant, you were amazing you really were."

Harry beamed at Hermione but she noticed that his attention was on Ron and she realized that she needed to let this play out no matter how much she wanted to latch onto Harry and never let him go.

Ron came up to Harry and offered a half hearted sloppy apology which Harry immediately waved off and they grinned at each other stupidly. Hermione slowly realized that now that Ron was on speaking terms with Harry she might not be Harry's go to friend anymore, it was a little selfish of her but she had come to appreciate her and Harry's private moments together and it seemed like they were no longer going to be private anymore.

She could feel herself getting teary and decided to hide herself; the boys didn't need to see her bawling, under the guise of being happy about their reunion being so touching Hermione excused herself knowing she could only stem the tears for so long. She ran all the way up to the castle and sped down the staircase to the kitchens asking the house-elfs to excuse her as she cried her eyes out.

It was about an hour later when she had cried herself to a fitful sleep that she was gently shook awake by

"George?" she asked hesitantly.

He shook his head. "It's Fred, Hermione. George _is_ here though." he said indicating his twin beside him both of whom were looking at her concerned. "What's wrong?" they asked gently not a trace of their usual galling nature visible. "is it Ron because if that git is making you cry again we can take care of him for you." Fred said with George nodding frantically beside him.

Hermione let out a teary sort of snort as she tried not to laugh at the twins attempted joke. "No its not him it's..." she hesitated wondering if she was being stupid.

George smiled at her. "Come on, we won't judge."

"We _might_ laugh though," said Fred grinning slightly.

Hermione couldn't help but smile at the twins antics to get her out of her rut and it did seem to work as she found herself giving in telling the twins about her sleepless nights and worrying about Harry and hating herself for loving the moments when she got to spent time with Harry alone because she knew that Harry was missing Ron and she finally ended with her breakdown after the task.

"So I came here to cry my eyes out and I guess finally get some uninterrupted sleep," she finished yawning and catching the twins eyes. "I _know_ I'm being stupid."

Both Fred and George shook their heads. "If anyone's being stupid it's Harry, Hermione. I mean who in their right minds would want to spend more time with our idiot brother than with you?" asked Fred.

"We wouldn't that's for sure," said George. "You know Fred. I think we ought to knock some sense into that scarred head of our savior, I think old Voldys spell must have knocked something loose in there." Fred was nodding in agreement.

"_No_," said Hermione immediately getting up. "I don't want you two doing anything like that. I'm being stupid and selfish, Harry has _missed_ Ron, he _enjoys_ Rons company I know he does and he _deserves_ to get his best friend back. I'll get over my rut soon enough, you guys just don't say anything to Harry please." She begged them. "For me?" she implored.

George was shaking his head while Fred was looking at Hermione, finally he spoke. "Alright Hermione, we won't say a word to Harry but if he doesn't get his head out of his arse soon enough he's going to be the target of a lot of Weasley pranks I can promise you that."

George stopped shaking his head and nodded instead. "Nobody gets away with hurting _our_ Hermione isn't that right Fred?"

"That's right George."

And they wouldn't hear another word of protest from Hermione, eventually they collected enough food for Harry's victory party and took their leave, leaving Hermione if not _completely_ happy than better than how she had felt when she had come here.

As she sat looking around her thinking of Harry, Dobby came up to him bearing a platter laden with treacle tart.

"Miss, Dobby made Harry Potters Granger some treacle tart," he said in his squeaky voice, "Because Harry Potters Granger is sad, Dobby don't like seeing Harry Potters Granger sad."

Hermione smiled at the small elf and his offering and decided to take it, right now she wasn't up for arguing about elf rights and such. She took a bite of Harry's favorite pudding and thought of him again it was sad that she could never be to Harry what he was to her, he was her _best_ friend even though she might never be his.

**The End**

_A/N: Or is it? Why don't I let you guys decide. I know that I left the ending there a little bittersweet so I may have something to fix it. When have you been able to tell the twins what to do even if you are Hermione Granger. What if the Disastrous __Duo ignore Hermione's request and decide to still go and knock some sense into Harry, it might make up for a much more happier ending. leave me reviews telling me what you thought and if you want me to make this story more sweeter. It all depends on you guys. All reviews are appreciated, thanks for reading._


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